Ecuador's geophysics institute said Friday's blast occurred at 6:10 p.m. local time and was followed by a second, four-minute explosion and five lesser tremors.

The 16,480-foot (5,023-meter) volcano, nearly 90 miles (140 kilometers) south of Quito, revived on Feb. 1, with eruptions that affected a third of Ecuador's provinces and temporarily closed a regional airport.

Tungurahua has been erupting sporadically since 1999. In 2006, a pyroclastic cloud killed four people and left two missing.

AP

This story has been automatically published from the Associated Press wire which uses US spellings